Recently, Haier Group announced that its used car business, Catayi Holdings, has reached an agreement with Yunchen Capital, a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance. Catayi Holdings will acquire ordinary shares of Autohome, held by Yunchen Capital, for a total price of approximately $1.8 billion.
After the transaction is completed, Catayi Holdings will hold approximately 41.91% of the shares of Autohome, making it the controlling shareholder of the company. Meanwhile, Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance will continue to be one of the major shareholders of Autohome, indirectly holding the remaining shares through Yunchen Capital.
This deal puts an end to the multiple rumors of Haier acquiring Autohome.
The entity making the acquisition, Catayi Holdings, is an internet used car sales company established by Haier Group in 2021. Currently, Catayi operates over 40 mid- to high-end used car stores nationwide. Within just two years of its establishment, Catayi’s certified used car division saw 9 companies make the 2023 China Automotive Circulation Industry Top 100 Used Car Dealers list, with two of them in the top ten.
Haier Group stated that after the completion of this transaction, it will leverage its leading advantages to integrate Catayi’s online and offline operations, fully empower Autohome, and collaborate on areas such as user experience, smart hardware integration, and new retail in the automotive sector. This will further strengthen Autohome's O2O intelligent interaction and comprehensive operational service capabilities. Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance will also support Autohome's future development.
Autohome has undergone several ownership changes throughout its history. Founded in 2005 by Li Xiang, the current CEO of Li Auto, Autohome was once the top-ranking automotive vertical website in terms of website traffic for several years. In 2015, Li Xiang stepped down from his role as president of Autohome. In 2016, Ping An Insurance, along with Australia Telecom, completed the share transfer, with Ping An acquiring a 47.4% stake in Autohome for $1.6 billion, becoming the largest shareholder. This time, Ping An has sold most of its shares to Haier Group.
On February 20, Autohome released an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange regarding the above acquisition.
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